Scenario: Henry VII, who was rumoured to have had an affair with Perkin Warbeck's widow Catherine Gordon, marries her after Elizabeth of York's death when she falls pregnant.
Henry VII,
King of England (b.1457: d.1509) m. Elizabeth of York (b.1466: d.1503) (a), Catherine Gordon (b.1474: d.1537) (b)
1a) Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales (b.1486: d.1502) m. Catherine, Infanta of Aragon and Castile (b.1485: d.1536) (a)
- had no issue
2a) Margaret Tudor, Princess of England (b.1489: d.1541) m. James IV, King of Scotland (b.1473: d.1513) (a), Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus (b.1489: d.1557) (b)
1a) James Stewart, Duke of Rothesay (b.1507: d.1508)
2a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1508)
3a) Arthur Stewart, Duke of Rothesay (b.1509: d.1510)
4a) James V, King of Scotland (b.1512: d.1542)
5a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1512)
6a) Alexander Stewart, Duke of Ross (b.1514: d.1515)
7b) Margaret Douglas (b.1515)
8b) Robert Douglas, Earl of Angus (b.1516)
9b) Stillborn Son (c.1518)
10b) Dorothea Douglas (b.1523: d.1527)
3a) Henry VIII, King of England and Ireland (b.1491: d.1547) m. Catherine, Infanta of Aragon and Castile (b.1485: d.1536) (a) -annulled 1533-, Anne Boleyn (c.1501-1507: d.1537) (b) Christina, Princess of Denmark (b.1521: d.1590)
1a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1510)
2a) Henry Tudor, Prince of Wales (b.1511: d.1511)
3a) Henry Tudor, Prince of Wales (b.1513: d.1513)
4a) Henry Tudor, Prince of Wales (b.1515: d.1515)
5a) Mary Tudor (b.1516: d.1558)
6a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1518)
7b) Elizabeth Tudor, Princess of England (b.1533: d.1603)
8b) Stillborn Son (c.1534)
9b) Miscarriage (c.1536)
10b) Stillborn Daughter (c.1537)
11c) Edward VI, King of England and Ireland (b.1540: d.1561)
12c) Christian Tudor, Duke of York (b.1542: d.1542)
13c) Miscarriage (c.1543)
4a) Elizabeth Tudor, Princess of England (b.1492: d.1495)
5a) Mary Tudor, Princess of England (b.1496: d.1532) m. Louis XII, King of France (b.1462: d.1515) (a), Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (b.1500: d.1557) (b)
1b) Isabella, Archduchess of Austria (b.1518)
2b) Stillborn Son (c.1519)
3b) Philip II, King of Spain (b.1522)
4b) Maria, Archduchess of Austria (b.1523: d.1524)
5b) Eleanor, Archduchess of Austria (b.1526: d.1526)
6b) Charles III, Lord of the Netherlands (b.1528)
6a) Edward Tudor, Prince of England (b.1498: d.1499)
7a) Edmund Tudor, Duke of Somerset (b.1499: d.1500)
8a) Katherine Tudor, Princess of England (b.1503: d.1503)
9b) Jasper Tudor, Duke of Somerset (b.1504: d.1538) m. Beatrice, Infanta of Portugal (b.1504: d.1552) (a)
1a) Catherine Tudor (b.1527: d.1527)
2a) Henry IX, King of England and Ireland (b.1529: d.1594) m. Elizabeth Tudor, Princess of England (b.1533: d.1603) (a)
1a) Henry X, King of England and Ireland (b.1563)
2a) Stillborn Daughter (c.1564)
3a) George Tudor, Duke of York (b.1566)
4a) Jasper Tudor, Duke of Richmond (b.1567)
5a) Stillborn Son (c.1570)
3a) Stillborn Son (c.1530)
4a) Margaret Tudor (b.1531: d.1532)
5a) John Tudor, Earl of Warwick (b.1533: d.1582)
6a) Mary Tudor (b.1534: d.1538)
7a) Elizabeth Tudor (b.1536: d.1538)
10b) Elizabeth Tudor, Princess of England (b.1505: d.1518)
11b) William Tudor, Duke of Richmond (b.1507: d.1547) m. Elizabeth Stafford (c.1523: d.1567) (a)
1a) Margaret Tudor (b.1540: d.1572) m. George Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond (b.1503-1504: d.1568) (a)
1a) William Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond (b.1562)
2a) Anne Tudor (b.1541: d.1622) m. Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk (b.1536: d.1572) (a)
1a) Francis Howard, Earl of Suffolk (b.1565)
2a) Helen Howard (b.1567)
3a) Catherine Howard (b.1568)
4a) Bernard Howard (b.1570)
3a) Bridget Tudor (b.1544: d.1597) m. John Lumley, Baron Lumley (b1533: d.1609), William Stanley, Baron Monteagle (b.1528: d.1581) (b)
1b) William Stanley (c.1560) - alleged bastard
4a) Charles Tudor, Earl of Lincoln (b.1545: d.1547)
Some Things That Happened:
- Catherine Gordon's sudden rise to Queenship happened in early 1504, when to the surprise of everyone, Henry VII secretly married what turned out to be his longterm and suddenly pregnant mistress. While many were scandalised, particularly since Catherine was the widow of a man he had executed for pretending to be Richard of York, Catherine was surprisingly popular amongst many at his court, for she had been well liked previously. The people, however, hated her, and Catherine was jeered at by crowds in her first progress as Queen. Their child was born, ostensibly early, in July of that year, a son named Jasper.
- The royal family struggled to bond with their new Queen, particularly the Princess Mary, who found her new stepmother unbearable and her sudden demotion from youngest child to simply youngest daughter excruciating. The birth of a sister in 1505 further alienated the Princess, and Catherine made little attempt to placate her. The young Prince of Wales was more friendly, but this seems to have been a ploy to spend time with his alleged betrothed, the Dowager Princess of Wales Catherine of Aragon, who joined the Queen's court in late 1505 as a cost-saving measure. The Queen, however, seems to have not been kind to the Spanish Infanta, apparently supporting a match with her niece Eleanor of Burgundy, over the Spanish alliance, less attractive now that Castile and Aragon had split.
- A final birth in 1507 to a second son, William Tudor, seems to have been the end of the physical relationship of the King and Queen. The labour apparently lasted almost a week, and Catherine would have no further children by any husbands post-Henry. This, along with her increasing friction with his elder children, seems to have soured the relationship between the King and Queen. By his death in 1509, Catherine had spent almost six months in a seperate household to her husband, becoming particularly close to the Earl of Surrey. His son, William Howard, along with his nephew , George Boleyn, seem to have joined her younger son's household later due to this relationship. He was also the father of her third husband.
- Catherine left the court completely in 1510, following the miscarriage of Catherine of Aragon's first child. Barred from the Queen's chambers during the labour, she fled back to household of the Earl of Surrey, who allowed her to stay while accommodation was prepared elsewhere. Her time there seems to have resulted in a love affair with a Lord John Howard, who she married late in the year. The young King retaliated by stripping her of her pension, and Catherine remained in the care of the Earl of Surrey until her husband's death of illness in early 1511. This brief marriage was evidently extremely meaningful to her, as in death, she was buried with a ring that had their initials intertwined. But with her second widowhood, she was able to return to court, where she saw the birth and death of Henry's first son. She remained unimpressed with the new Queen.
- Catherine became immensely important in 1515 for two reasons: she married the King's best friend, ostensibly at his request, and saved Margaret Tudor's second marriage. For the first, Mary Tudor, the stepdaughter she didn't like, had recently been widowed by Louis XII of France. Henry wanted to to return to him quickly, and be prepared for another marriage, the Duke of Burgundy and future Holy Roman Emperor if possible. But the man who was meant to collect the Princess, Charles Brandon, had a soft spot for her, was single, and Henry did not trust him not to marry his sister abroad. And so the 41 year old Catherine Gordon, potentially wealthy and still quite beautiful, who had maintained a flirtation with Brandon partially to spite her stepdaughter, was the perfect choice to lock him down before he went to collect her. Henry returned her Dower lands and made Charles the Earl of Suffolk to sweeten the deal. He was, of course, grateful to enter further into the royal family. The Queen failed to attend the wedding. Mary's return was done safely, she attempted to marry a Catherine Gordon's former brother-in-law Edmund Howard, who reported this to the King. The Princess was married by proxy in late 1516, after the birth of her niece of the same name, to the Duke of Burgundy, and arrived in early 1517 to Brussels. She would have the first of six children the following year. For Margaret Tudor, Catherine brokered peace between the arriving pregnant young woman and her husband, who she requested come to England. They two argued viciously, but eventually, under the tutelage of Catherine, who Margaret had never had the antagonistic relationship with that Mary had, they reunited and had a son the following year. Margaret would have several further pregnancies but no long-living children. She spent the next decade failing to scheme her way back to power in Scotland.
- Catherine Gordon, meanwhile, struggled under the increasing awareness that her children were very much potential rulers of England. She brokered a deal in 1516 for a double marriage with the Duke of Buckingham, with his youngest daughter to marry the Duke of Somerset (Jasper, the elder son) and the Princess Elizabeth to marry his heir, Henry Stafford. Henry VIII would undermine both betrothals, as it was his prerogative to marry his siblings off, and regardless, Elizabeth Tudor would die of a fever in 1518. She was not yet 13 and severely undergrown. Catherine's two sons had fared better.
- Jasper Tudor, Duke of Somerset, was not as close to his mother as his younger brother. Whereas William had the benefit of Catherine's intense attachment as the youngest son, Jasper is much closer to the royal Tudors, spending time with Henry as his favoured brother and, at this time, heir. He is thus thrilled when the Stafford marriage falls through and, in 1519, is betrothed to the Princess Charlotte of France. The marriage will come to nothing, but at 15 he already considers himself a man of the world and wants a cosmopolitan bride. When in 1524 the young Charlotte dies, he tried to work with his brother to find a new bride and, in 1526, when his brother met Anne Boleyn, he married Beatrice of Portugal, sister to the King of Portugal and the Duchess of Savoy. They would have two surviving sons. Despite suggestions from elsewhere that a marriage between Jasper and his niece Mary would have solved the succession issues, the Duke of Somerset seems to have never considered it and also never doubted his own legitimacy as heir, even as Catherine of Aragon and many of the court accepted Mary in that role.
- Catherine Douglas was an instrumental figure in supporting Anne Boleyn over Catherine of Aragon, writing over 100 letters to key religious figures blaming Catherine's "barren nature" on her marriage to Arthur Tudor. This put her in league with her younger son, who wanted to see his friend's favourite sister (and now his own friend) marry his brother, and against Jasper Tudor, who had never liked the Howard family. By the time the marriage went through in 1533, Catherine was amongst those who attended the ceremony. She stood as godmother to the Princess Elizabeth in 1533. Anne's subsequent miscarriages were unfortunate, and after Catherine of Aragon's death in 1536 it looked likely that Anne would be set aside. She held on, however, for one final pregnancy, and made the whole ordeal easier by dying of blood poisoning following a stillborn daughter. Henry remarried within 6 months to his third and final wife, Christina of Denmark. Catherine Douglas, aged 53, followed the young woman a few months later.
- As for the family Catherine left behind, William married a Stafford girl in 1539, secretly, and was banished from court until 1545. Three daughters survived him after his death in 1547, seemingly of a heart attack, and he was not conscious when his only son had a fit and died mere days before his own death. Jasper, meanwhile, died a year after his mother of sweating sickness, in an sweep of illness that took both of his younger daughters. His younger son survived but was heavily scarred. His elder son, Henry, lived to inherit the throne in 1561, after the death of his cousin Edward VI of England (then in negotiations to marry Mary I, Queen of Scotland), the only surviving child of Christina of Denmark at that point. He married his cousin, Elizabeth Tudor (who had never married and, upon the death of her brother, had been voted against as ruler, to her fury), and would have three sons. His brother never married, but may have had an ongoing relationship with his steward. The daughters (Margaret, Anne and Bridget) of William Tudor married, respectively, the old George Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, as his third wife (the only one to give him a child, a son), the Duke of Norfolk as his third wife as well, and John Lumley in 1572 as his second wife, producing no children. It seems that Bridget did have a child prior to her marriage to Lumley, which may have been from an affair with her cousin by marriage, William Stanley, Charles Brandon's grandson. This child, Nicholas Stanley, seems to have become a poet in court of Mary I of Scotland in the late 1580's, before her death in 1588 in childbirth. He may, however, have simply been a man named William Stanley and the story was false.